Hay Baylor

       If you had told me a year ago that I would have quickly fallen in love with a school, its students, and its community, I probably would have told you that you didn't know what you were talking about and to wait and see in a year or so. Well, if that was the case I couldn't have possibly been more wrong in my assumptions. I always tackle everything that is presented to me in life full boar, even if the way I do it isn't perfect, I always make up for it with effort and determination. When I got placed at Central Columbia with Mr. Doug Brown, I was thoroughly excited about the journey I was going to embark on with my unique student-teaching situation.      I can honestly say that I could not have asked for a better experience with my student-teaching. I got to see the end of a school year, which included everything from NOCTI and Final Exams, to students getting ready to graduate and checking out for the year in the middle of May. I had the opportu...

      I was fortunate enough to complete a mock interview with Mr. Adam Comstock, principal at Central Columbia High School, during my student-teaching internship. This proved to be very valuable for me as I begin to enter the world of interviews and the hiring process in the very near future.      Overall, the basic interview part was very straightforward, and I felt as if I was able to articulate my thoughts in a concise but effective way. Mr. Comstock said that my ability to communicate my thoughts and express them with confidence is a gift and that if I do it that way in all of my interviews then I will leave a lasting impression on any administration that I interview with. Along with this, I felt as though my knowledge of agricultural education is very high, and that is thanks to my education at Penn State and the #psuteachag team.      One thing that did throw me off a bit was the fact that the administrative folks seem to be moving tow...

  For my second SAE visit during my student-teaching, I went out to 10th grader Brynn Karnes' placement SAE project at her family-owned hardware store. Brynn works at ACE Renco Hardware, which is owned and operated by her family, but affiliated with Ace Hardware. Brynn is an excellent student who always goes above and beyond inside and outside of the classroom. She started working at her family's business when she was 15, and she now has been employed for a year and a half or so. She chose this placement project as her SAE when she joined the Ag Science I course at Central Columbia during her freshman year.      Before the visit, I contacted Brynn to determine her work schedule during the week of August 14th. Once I knew that she would be working the register during the day shift on Wednesday the 16th, I scheduled the visit and went over to Renco with Mr. Brown. We always take a look at AET and see what responsibilities and journal entries the students have placed in...

      For my first SAE visit during my student-teaching, I went out to one of my junior's food plot stands that she had created during her freshman year. Her name is Maggie Fijal and her love for the outdoors and hunting was the driving force behind the creation of this SAE project that she keeps running throughout the entire year. She loves to hunt every season of whitetail deer, from archery all the way up to late muzzleloader season in January. In order to promote more hunting success, she installed a few food plots on a friend's property. Since Maggie had to talk with the landowner and develop a contract agreement for her food plots, this made her project an Entrepreneurship SAE Project.      Before the visit, I contacted Maggie and asked for the best time of the summer for Doug and I to come out and meet her and her father. She told me that sometime in June would work before field hockey practices started, so we made the trip on June 27th. I took a loo...

      When I thought about what science classroom to visit at Central Columbia High School, I had many different classes I could choose from. Everything from basic Biology I to Advanced Sports Medicine. However, I settled on Physiology I which is a class that was not offered in my home high school, so I was interested in seeing what this class looked like. The instructor, Chris Mitchell, is someone that I had out to State College for some wrestling matches, so I was familiar with him and was excited to see him teach. Little did I know that when I walked in on his period 2 class on Monday morning, we would be talking about the anatomy of the human eye.      It turns out that the eye is much more complicated than I could have even imagined, between muscles and secretion glands, I learned more than I ever thought I would have in a matter of 45 minutes. Mr. Mitchell started with some workbook review questions, and then we got into some of the "nitty gritty" and...

      Let's just say that my first weekend of student teaching was not a letdown by any means. I started at Central Columbia with my observations on Thursday, March 23rd, and by Sunday I was en route to Harrisburg for the Student Legislative Leadership Conference with Mrs. Kristie Good and two of our upperclassmen FFA members, Rebecca Lehman and Brooke Kelty. These girls represented the Central Columbia FFA chapter exceptionally well, as they always have in the past according to Mr. Brown and Mrs. Good. Now, let's jump into what went down at the Sheraton on Sunday and Monday.      We got to the Sheraton after a quick bite to eat and within an hour or so my students were headed off to workshops. The focus on Sunday evening was on advocacy, learning how to get your point across effectively and with a purpose, along with some basic dinner etiquette to prepare students for breakfast with their local legislators on Tuesday morning. Rebecca and Brooke had both be...